Ray Boshara is a senior adviser and the director of the Center for Household Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He is also a senior fellow in the Financial Security Program at the Aspen Institute. Read more about Ray's publications.
A worker’s paycheck-to-paycheck challenges illustrate who is most at risk.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompts the Center for Household Financial Stability team to weigh the causes of certain families being more at-risk to economic shock than others.
Families without enough "safe" assets and too much debt are at risk—who else should policymakers and others target for economic assistance?
Prior to the pandemic, 44% of all Americans said their retirement savings weren’t on track. The SECURE Act is poised to shore up retirement security, but what else could be considered?
A trip to a rural Minnesota town prompts an assessment of the issues—and innovations—that impact similar communities across the nation.
Being the first in your family to get a degree is a huge feat. But America’s share of first-generation college graduates is declining. What can be done to help?
This infographic series shows who’s getting left behind, and by how much.
That’s no small decision, especially as the cost has risen dramatically, requiring nearly 4 in 10 undergrads to take out loans.
Dig into takeaways from a recent gathering of thought leaders seeking to better understand whether taking out a mortgage to buy a home is worth it.
Education and wealth each predict the other. How does one have either a college degree or wealth in the first place?
Three in five millennials lack market exposure. What will that mean for retirement? A concerned dad offers advice on saving with IRAs, 529 plans and more.
Thoughts on banking, the unbanked and financial health after an event featuring Lisa Servon, author of The Unbanking of America: How the New Middle Class Survives.
Ray Boshara shares a lesson his father taught him about always having cash to fall back on. Recent research shows that his dad was right.
Modest but scalable innovations can reshape economic opportunity for struggling Americans.
The answer to this question may be “No”; read about a research symposium and subsequent paper that explored the links between race and ethnicity, and education and wealth.
Ray Boshara, director of the Center for Household Financial Stability at the St. Louis Fed, discusses research from the center suggesting that age/birth year, education and race/ethnicity increasingly matter for building wealth and financial security.
St. Louis Fed Senior Advisor Ray Boshara has referred to the weak household balance sheet as one of the core economic challenges of our time, suggesting that households must focus on rebuilding their balance sheets—including securing the right levels and types of savings, debts and assets. Read an abridged version of his congressional testimony in the first of a series of articles on this topic.
Surprising many, research has demonstrated that poor people can in fact save and build assets. They just need a well-structured opportunity, like the rest of us. This article summarizes this and other surprising findings from the last 15 years about how the poor save and what difference it makes to their balance sheets, their attitudes and behavior, and their prospects for moving up the economic ladder.
Ray Boshara shares a lesson his father taught him about always having cash to fall back on. Recent research shows that his dad was right.
